Ariel Pink

http://pitchfork.com/tv/#/episode/1966-ariel-pink

^ Flashback

Thanks NickB!! They're cool as cats man.

I know Kevin, I prefer my Ariel murky as well, but have have you heard Can't Hear My Eyes? And this new one?

The latter only. I like it. But for me, the murk places a burden on his music that makes it ache more. See also other best album in the world ever candidate Belong: Colorloss Record.

I will try that album, haven't hear it!

And I totally know where you're coming from. I'm madly in love with the aesthetic of 'The Doldrums', it indeed aches and feels weird and unbalanced in a glorious way, golden harmonies from outer space.
Lately he's polishing his sound, it seems. I was at first a tad dissapointed (read earlier on in this thread), but have grown very fond of 'Can't Hear My Eyes' especially. But yes, he'll probably never top The Doldrums. I'm just mad excited 's all :)

I prefer the one that has Jools lost his jewels since that's the first one I ever heard

yeah me too. the opener, 'Trepanated Earth', is breezy, massive and totally desperate at the same time. For such a 70's "golden harmonies" type of songwriter he often comes up with the type of minor-key bleakness that could nicely fit on a Cure album.

was kinda let down by "can't hear my eyes" because while it was produced more 'cleanly', it wasn't really produced well. kinda like if you took out the reverb and blew the dust off those gas records. or watching ugly people on big screen hi-def

NickB, I kiss you! I can't believe that I simply missed that Belong EP. It is brilliant! Ariel Pink on downers, golden harmony onder a thick clutter of ambient noise. I like it very, very much indeed. Is their album equally good?

listening to worn copy tonight...man I fuckin love this record so much.

really want to see him live again. such a happy time. still don't know anyone these days who writes pop songs as good as him (but i'm way out of the loop.) if there was an albums poll, i wouldn't know what to pick; the first four that were (re)released are all 10/10 outstanding.

what a beautiful mess his live shows are!

worn copy better all-around than the doldrums but the first 1/2 of the doldrums is eye-poppingly great

I am happy with either "Bobby Pyn" or "Trepanated Earth" being considered his magnum opus...I also think House Arrest should have both those albums worriedly twisting their hair...

Artist of the decade. Seriously.

I think maybe I agree!

"Young Pilot Astray" from The Doldrums is a mixtape staple and one of my favorite tracks of the decade. Haven't heard enough of his other releases to have an overall opinion, but "YPA" (and "For Kate I Wait") are perfect in every detail.

remember when ilm was super skeptical about this?

guy

like this guy a lot, but flying circles is one of my top 5 songs of all time so it tends to dwarf the other stuff for me

Can't remember those times Plaxico (I wasn't around back then, surely is the reason)... Was ILM foul mouthing Ariel Pink?

Picked up the My Molly' 7" the other day on eBay. The man simply is incapable of dissapointing!

whoever OTM up there w/r/t Worn Copy >> Doldrums. Not always in the mood for this guy, but when I am I'm always amazed at how he can come up with an otherwordly bridge or coda out of nowhere.

Yeah back in 2005, everyone was like "Fucking trustafarian tosser bangin on about Nazis, been given all this reording equipment to play with by his parents, should go out and get a proper job..." etc. I never had a problem with it though and I'm glad people are giving Worn Copy some biggups as it was always my favourite.

I think it helps that he really seems like a genuine weirdo, moreso than someone with stevie-moore-fetishist acid fried schtick.

he's kind of a dick.

How so?

he's seven inches long and spurts piss and jizz.

I met him at a bar and he was very dickish. in his defense i guess it was like 3 in the morning and he had played a show that night, but when people are friendly to you you shouldn't be a dick to them.
still love his music though. I think House Arrest is my favorite. There are some killer tracks on that holy shit album, too.

Yeah he was selling merch after his London show and he seemed a bit miserable...like buy you're stuff and fuck off...do think he is a talent tho

isn't the dude's sister in a vegetative state, or something?...cut him some slack, he's probably got all sorts of issues...

The ethio jam on one of the newish 7 inches is great.

yeah from what I hear from my LA scenesters friends, dude's got some pretty serious issues. Anyway, the guy might be a fucked-up asshole, but his stuff never comes across as douchey or ironic, and way more emotionally engaging than any lo-fi hipster darling.

No, I totally agree on that front.

remember when ilm was super skeptical about this?

haha dude even the stuff from like 5 years ago upthread is largely positive!

also lover boy's finally out on vinyl, which is great, because it has some of his best stuff imo ("don't talk to strangers," "so glad," "let's get married," "i don't need enemies," although i wish it woulda included "new trumpets of time" because that shit is a jam and a half too).

this guy is awesome

http://mutant-sounds.blogspot.com/2009/07/debut-lp-by-ariel-pink-and-vdos-new.html

Anyone know the deal with this new project? This thing Ariel is doing with the Mutant Sounds dude? Sounds interesting...

his Invisible Jukebox in the new Wire is pretty hilarious.

i've stanned for Ariel since The Doldrums, and will continue to stan for him afterwards. he does have issues, but he's also *painfully* quiet and shy, and it isn't an affect. he was very kind to me the last time i hung with him, but then again, me and my friends were all coming down from ecstasy whilst petting him and smoking pot.

my faves:
"Gettin High in the Morning" <----because really, he gets the feeling down.
"Artifact"
"The Drummer"
"Alisa"
"Somewhere in Europe/Hot Pink!"
"Oblivious Peninsula"

also, the Gettin High in the Morning--->Helen--->Every Night I Die at Miyagi's--->House Arrest---> Alisa----> The People I'm Not section of "House Arrest" might be the best shit ever. never fails.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzDXZQyS0i0

<3 <3 <3

wow
"Los Angeles’ notorious lo-fi pop oufit Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti have been unveiled as the latest signings to 4AD. The group are currently recording their first record for the label, due spring 2010."

o_O

Ariel and 4AD... that's such an insane combination it can only work out brilliantly.

Seems like a great fit, though 4AD certainly isn't the label it used to be, after the Beggars Banquet merger.

OMG I LOVE THIS NEW SONG

http://gorillavsbear.blogspot.com/2010/03/mp3-new-ariel-pinks-haunted-graffiti.html

Would I like Ariel Pink?

good song, but i am almost tempted to run it through some VST effects to simulate the dirty cassette tape sound of the older stuff.

I am loving the clean sound tbh

I don't blame the dude for moving on from the lo-fi. The new production is pristine. But for me, that dense layer of reel-to-reel-track-bouncing in a wood-paneled basement studio, and his sometimes off-key caterwauling, sort of made it possible to listen to what otherwise is 80s style smooth rock. I know that there's a lot more going on here in terms of weird FX and drones drifting in an out of the foreground, but I'm not sure I could listen to a whole album of this, unless there are some pretty weird excursions. Guy does have a great ear for melody, though. Song is one of his catchiest.

that's cool, 80s style smooth rock is like my favorite tho.

just out of curiosity, are you old enough to remember that kind of stuff being on the radio at, like, department stores?

I hope that doesn't sound ageist or anything - I just wonder if my own distaste for 80s smooth rock is because I had to suffer through it (it seemed to soundtrack particularly miserable times such as being stuck in TJ Maxx type stores, or dentist offices, as a kid), as opposed to looking back on it as an artifact. All the wobbly tape phasing and artificial aging of his earlier stuff allowed me to think of it as an artifact more than something I grew up with. if that makes sense.